Profile: Annamarie Gatto

Unlike on the Food Network, there’s usually not a premade dish you can just pull out of the oven to show viewers what the finished product should look like when you do a web-based cooking show.

“We don’t have that kind of movie magic,” said Annamarie Gatto, a self-trained cook who films her online cooking show in her Mount Holly kitchen.

Gatto’s sister has called her a domestic goddess because of her prowess in the kitchen.

The compliment didn’t quite fit, the 5-foot-3 Gatto said.

“Goddesses are perfect, goddesses are tall, goddesses don’t need all the makeup to look good,” she said. “And goddesses are tall.”

What she is, though, is someone who is fearless in the kitchen and someone who’s learned not to worry about being less than perfect.

“I used to be very hard on myself to be the perfect girlfriend, wife, cook. I drove myself into the ground,” Gatto said. “Once I gave myself permission to not be perfect, I became happier. It was so freeing.”

It’s a philosophy she encourages others to adopt in her blog entries and webisodes on her website, thedomesticbadass.net. Some of the shows you can find there are straightforward while others are themed. There’s a “Hunger Games”-inspired webisode where Gatto does her best Katniss impression before whipping up a lamb stew recipe she created. A Valentine’s Day-themed show is due out before the holiday.

Because of the cooking and cleanup time and the number of takes required to get a scene right, one roughly 15 minute webisode can take four to five hours to shoot. Help comes in the form of Gatto’s husband and chief taste tester Gary Sivak, a fine arts instructor and technical director of theatre at Belmont Abbey College.

While they’d love for the web show to lead to bigger things – Gatto did get a callback for “The Next Food Network Star” last year but didn’t make the final cut – they’re having fun doing the show together.

“He gets to do something he’s just crazy in love with doing, which is the technical aspect of it, the directing, the producing, the special effects,” said Gatto, 43. “I get to dress up in crazy costumes and do fun stuff and cook.”

She also makes “fancy” foods more accessible to the everyday cook. You don’t need to have a culinary degree to make five-star restaurant quality meals like Asian glazed salmon with garlic green beans or pan seared lamb chops with red wine and balsamic reduction at home.

“You just have to have a spirit of adventure and think of cooking as fun,” she said. “I try to present the techniques and food in a way that it’s not intimidating so that people feel like they can try it.”

Follow Annamarie Gatto on Facebook, where you’ll find her latest postings and links to her blog and webisodes.

1 tsp. pomegranate molasses (you can find this in Middle Eastern markets - if you can’t find it, you can substitute honey or plum sauce, which can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store, or make your own pomegranate molasses by reducing pomegranate juice on medium high heat until it is reduced to a syrupy consistency)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Check the fish for pin bones and remove any you find. Place fish in a large zipper lock storage bag. Coarsely chop the garlic. In a medium bowl, combine the garlic and all the ingredients for the marinade. Whisk together until everything is combined and the apricot preserves have fully “melted down” and combined with the other ingredients. Pour into the bag with the salmon and close the bag securely, making sure that all the air is out of the bag. Turn the bag over several times, making sure that the marinade gets all over the fish. Marinate for 10-15 minutes at room temperature. (You can do this step earlier in the day or the night before, just make sure you marinate it in the fridge, then take it out 15 minutes before cooking to allow fish to come to room temperature.)

Lay fish in a shallow baking sheet and pour the marinade over the fish, making sure the marinade is under the fish (I like to use a large cookie sheet). Cover the fish with aluminum foil and put in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until fish is opaque and flakes easily, but is still moist.

While the fish is in the oven, prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine first five ingredients. Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture just starts to get bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in sesame seeds. Set aside. Chop the scallions and set aside.

After 10-15 minutes, uncover salmon and set oven to broil. Broil for 3-5 minutes, basting fish twice with the marinade/pan drippings, until fish is bubbly and golden on top. Watch during the broiling process or you may burn the fish. Remove from oven and let fish rest for 5 minutes. Top with glaze and chopped scallions and serve over steamed rice with Garlic Green Beans.

GARLIC GREEN BEANS

1 lb. Haricot Verts (these are a French green bean that are very skinny. Regular green beans will work – you’ll need to adjust the cooking time)

1 tsp. sesame oil (you can substitute veggie oil, but the sesame oil gives a nice bit of additional flavor to the beans)

2 cloves of garlic, cut in half

1 cup water

Pinch or two of salt

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan and swirl it around to just coat the bottom. (If there is too much oil, remove some carefully with a paper towel – you just want a light coating.) Add the beans, garlic and salt and quickly stir fry until all of the beans are evenly bright green. Add water, stir and cover the pan. Remove from heat and let stand for 3-5 minutes or until beans are tender-crisp. Remove green beans from pan, discarding water and garlic chunks, and serve.